Ralph still struggles with the loss of his mother. It has shaped the life of the 17-year-old pitcher/shortstop, who may be the best high school baseball player in Greater San Antonio.

Garza said he barely remembers anything from the 2011 baseball season. It was filled with late-night or early-morning drives to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after games.

Baseball was an afterthought, and he still had one of the best seasons of any area player. Garza was named the District 25-5A MVP and to the Express-News Super Team.

This season, he's channeled most of his energy into baseball.

He's batting .527 with 29 RBIs and leads the area with seven home runs. But Garza, who sports a 5-0 record and 1.04 ERA, will most likely be a pitcher at the next level.

New Braunfels coach Doug Edwards called Garza the best all-around player he's coached. More importantly, he said, Garza's maturity has been an example for current and future players to follow.

At this time last year, Garza was considering the possibility of getting drafted to the major leagues after he graduated so he could help pay medical bills with money from a signing bonus.

Signed with Oklahoma, college is his priority now. Garza said that between his scholarship and financial aid, he'll have to pay for less than 10 percent of his tuition.

The summer was hardest for Garza. It's the key time for scouts and coaches to see players at select baseball tournaments. He was going to be thousands of miles away at times, in tournaments from Georgia to California.

Garza wanted to take the summer off to spend more time at home, but his mother didn't want him to miss out on account of her.

Every time he left, he said he felt like his mother was getting worse.

He stayed home when her condition worsened in July. On her last night in the hospital, Ralph and Lupita stayed awake until 5 a.m., talking and watching TV together.

She was at home for a week and died on July 23, with Ralph and family members at her side.

Lupita left Ralph three pages of notes that he reads every few days. They're mostly about trips they took, food they loved and things that made her laugh. They're her memories.

Some of the letters are squiggly lines. Her hand shook as she was too weak to write, but she kept writing anyway.

“She knew the thing to say that was going to stick with you,” he said. “One of the last things she told me was, ‘Never give up on your dreams.'”